On a Floating Bridge

I’m heading off again, so join me for another jaunt across the world without planes or a great deal of cash, exploring alternative travel with fewer environmental impacts.


I realise that in 2007 I didn’t go into a lot of detail about one of the trickier parts of complicated journeys involving several train and boat schedules across many countries…

The Planning

Hopefully this section will be useful to anyone trying to figure out how to choose the best route out of Japan via ferry and on through Asia by train. Unlike the UK, where taking the eurostar is the most obvious, regular and easy to plan option, there are many route options from Japan to continental Asia including: Kobe to Shanghai, Kobe to Tianjin, various places to Korea and then Korea to China, Matsue to Vladivostok via Korea, Wakkanai to Sakhalin to Kholmsk to Vanino. I still have no idea which route I will be taking. I’m planning to leave in the week June 6th – 12th, the final date will depend on which ferry. Stay tuned for more information in the coming days on this travel jigsaw puzzle.

Part 1 – Getting off the island: Planning the sea crossing and connecting long-distance train

Read entire article » || Filed under: Flightless Travel Guides, Slow Travel, World Slow Travel

For those living in Japan without a healthy salary from a foreign firm, being frugal is an important pastime. Especially if you are an English teacher or a student here, life can often seem to be on a strict budget. Finding myself in a low income bracket, I have been looking for ways to enjoy slow travel on a budget. It’s not true that traveling without planes is for the rich and in this post I explore options for budget travel between Japan and Korea which are cost friendly and low in carbon emissions. I hope I can convince you that the two economic capitals of the furthest east, most often connected by airplanes, can be bridged cheaply, more comfortably and with a lower environmental impact using alternative transportation.

This can be a hard sell. Unfortunately, we live in a world where international airlines avoid paying fuel duty, in many countries, unlike other modes of transport which incur heavy fuel taxes. Considering how much extra fuel airlines use per passenger, it is no wonder they seem to be the most economic option in the current climate since their running costs are billions of dollars less than they rightly should be. For those living in Japan, this often means people turn away from the expensive shinkansen, and other options available, but there are some offers out there to make lower carbon choices.

Read the rest of this entry »

Read entire article » || Filed under: Flightless Travel Guides, Slow Travel, World Slow Travel

In 2006 I stopped using airplanes, a decision I did not take lightly, but one that prompted me to be more conscious of alternative travel methods and how travel behaviour affects the environment. The very existence of alternatives to flying is not widely known, how to go about using them is even more of a mystery to most people. I blogged my journey and attempted to get a reasonably accurate comparison of the CO₂ emissions equivalent between the land transport that I took, and an equivalent commercial flight. The results are quite shocking.
If you are thinking about giving up air travel, or testing the waters of overland options, I hope my rookie traveler diary and later hindsight can help give you an idea of what it’s like to see the world, on the level.

Map, Bristol to Tokyo

Read the rest of this entry »

Read entire article » || Filed under: Flightless Travel Guides, Slow Travel